


The Boy

by theloupgaroux



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-23
Updated: 2013-04-23
Packaged: 2017-12-09 06:21:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/771007
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theloupgaroux/pseuds/theloupgaroux





	The Boy

She couldn't remember his name, just that his eyes were dark and when he kissed her it tasted like thunder. The moments she spent in the grove with her village boy were some of the sweetest she would experience, caught between the flush of youth and the cold death that came too soon to her. She had kissed him twice, and not on the cheek like the kiss her friend told her of but on the lips. She had kissed him twice on the lips before she decided she was going to be his wife. 

Rebekah had watched for weeks as Elijah and Niklaus grew more and more distant, as they became torn apart from the family. And because of what? Some girl. Tatia. They both wanted to marry her even though she was spoiled and her belly had been full with that brat. Rebekah had decided it was much better to marry young before any troubles could find you. 

She was just waiting for the boy to approach Father, and Rebekah didn't think it would take too long. They'd kissed. Twice. Alone. And she was a woman now. For a week Rebekah walked on air, even though her brothers were now grieving because it seemed that Tatia had left the village. It made no matter to Rebekah, she was going to get married and then her brothers would be happy for her together. Niklaus had even come out of hiding and grumbling for a few moments when he noticed her smile. When he'd asked her about it, she'd remained coy. She couldn't tell him she'd kissed that boy! Niklaus was always much too protective over her. But still, Rebekah got the feeling that he had noticed  the glances the boy had thrown at her. And from the way Nik's face clouded over again when she refused to answer, Rebekah realised he knew she had feelings for the other villager. 

The next day was a bit cooler than the rest, so Rebekah took the soiled clothing out to wash. She pushed the clothing in and out of the water, dreaming of how much more time it would take for her to do her chores when she had babies of her own. But she didn't mind. Rebekah was so stuck in her imaginings that she barely noticed them at first. She heard a  giggle, she recognised it as the voice of her friend, Frid. Then Frid came tumbling around the corner of the house, along with the boy. They had been together. Alone. Alone together. The way the boy had been with Rebekah the week before. 

"You're getting water all over your skirts, baby sister." Nik took the washing stick from her hand and she snapped back to herself. How long had he been standing there? Had he seen Frid? Rebekah couldn't look at him. He had been in love with the girl everyone wanted, Tatia. And no one wanted _her_. If she looked at Nik now he'd know, know she wasn't even as pretty as Frid. She was just a silly girl. Of course no one would want to marry her. Not like Tatia, who Nik had foamed at the mouth for, fighting against Elijah of all people. Rebekah mumbled something, and picked up the clothing even though the water had been boiled and it felt so hot on her skin that she started to cry, it just hurt so much. 

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Rebekah had been dead for a full moon's turn when she found it. 

After Niklaus had been cast out of the family home, Rebekah had started bringing him clean clothes and food. He'd been sleeping in the caves, that she knew. He never mentioned it when she did this but he always left his dirty clothes behind where she could find them. Esther had cast him off and no one was left to look after him, only Rebekah. She didn't mind. He was her brother. Always. 

When she got to the mouth of the cave she left a basket of food and supplies, and went in a bit deeper to collect Nik's things that needed cleaning. Only it didn't smell right. Normally she could track his pile of things in the dark from the scent of him, a sort of forest-moss-meets-fire sort of scent, very earthy and warm despite the corpse he now was. This time she smelled something else. Blood. When she reached down towards the clothing she saw that there was someone else's shirt on the floor of the cave. She used her vampire speed to take the bundle out into the full light. Her hands were now damp with blood and she was holding a tightly wrapped linen bundle tied with leather cord. She knew the shirt from memory, it was the one the boy had been wearing when he led her to the grove all those lifetime ago. She quickly unwrapped it and gasped. It was a heart. It was a macabre apology, a message of thanks written in the only language Nik could speak lately: that of blood. 

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-present day-

Her brother was in New Orleans, and as she'd told Elijah she hoped he would find his grave waiting for him. Rebekah figured she might as well take the opportunity to ransack Klaus' creepy collection of memorobilia he'd hoarded over the years. As she stepped into Klaus' third room of storage, Rebekah noticed a small trunk that had once belonged to her. The last time she'd seen it had been in Chicago, all those years ago for him and all those months ago for her. The Original little sister had thought she had collected all of her things before she moved out. She'd been wrong, Niklaus had kept more locked away. Rebekah broke the lock and then went through the trunk, throwing around priceless jewels and various odds and ends she had kept over the years. Then Rebekah found something that made her breath catch. A leather cord, stained with blood. Suddenly all the memories of the boy came flooding back to her. Rebekah remembered a time when Nik had known what she needed even before she knew herself. Maybe... maybe this time he needed something too, but wasn't realising it. Maybe Niklaus needed her help. He'd never own to it, but had she? All those years ago? Had she ever told him how her heart felt like it had splintered off into a thousand white oak stakes within her chest? How they pierced her lungs whenever the boy cringed away from her in horror, making every breath like a death? No. She hadn't said a word. But somehow he'd known, and he'd made quiet amends for her. She'd never thanked him for that. Never acknowledged his act. At the time, that was just what family did. He didn't mention how she provided for him, and she didn't mention the boy. How many things were left unspoken between them over the centuries? How many actions had they both taken for granted, foolishly believing they would always be together to tend one another? Rebekah knew she needed to go to New Orleans. 


End file.
